We have an exciting project in the making! We are proposing to transform the Excelsior Stairs (located on Bridgeway, the main downtown thoroughfare, directly across from Viña del Mar Park) into a colorful mural celebrating Sausalito’s sister city relationship with Viña del Mar. The somewhat worn stairs, to be christened the “Viña del Mar Stairs,” [...]

In September 2024, a delegation of eight women, all part of AGEP-V (La Asociación gremial de empresarias y profesionales) a business networking organization in the Viña del Mar/Valparaiso region, visited Sausalito for two weeks. This marked our 12th exchange with this business women’s group since 2011. Our focus for this sister city program has been [...]

Unlike most fire departments in the US, Chile’s fire fighters are 100% volunteers. They receive minimal government funding and must rely on citizen donations to keep their departments fully functional. Here in the US, with local and government subsidies, our fire departments are obliged to replace much of their equipment on a regular basis. Often [...]

The coastal communities of Sausalito and Viña del Mar share strikingly similar climates, terrain, and challenges, from hillside/urban interfaces to earthquakes, recurring wildfires and coastal weather conditions and drought. In 2022 and 2024, wildfires ravaged the countryside in and around Viña del Mar, where they suffered tremendous losses of life and property, just as California [...]

If you were awake in the early morning hours of November 17, you might have seen this sight: a fire engine loaded on a tractor trailer, heading out of Marin County on its way to Long Beach. From there, Fire Engine 7 will be loaded onto a ship heading for Chile. A vision three years [...]